Prelim Bits 19-02-2024 | UPSC Daily Current Affairs

Santali Language

Recently, a book ‘10 Indian Languages and How They Came to Be’ was published that traced the evolution, transformation and development of Santali language.

• It is the predominant language of the Santals.
• Native speakers – Majority of its speakers are spread across 4 states with about 44% in Jharkhand followed by West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar.
• Besides India, they are also found in Nepal and Bangladesh.
• 2011 Census – It recorded about 7.3 million speakers, an increase from 6.4 million of 2001 Census.
• Family – Austro-Asiatic language.
• Literature –The 1^st attempts to write were made in the 19th century with scripts like Bangla, Devanagari, Odia and Roman.
• Jeremiah Phillips, an American missionary, devised a writing system for Santali using the Bangla script.
• Ol Chiki (Alchiki) script – It was devised by Pandit Raghunath Murmu (Guru Gomke) in 1925 which used signs and symbols from their environment like hills, rivers, trees, plough, and sickle.
• Recognition – It was included in the 8th Schedule in 2003 and is an additional official language in Jharkhand and West Bengal.

Santal is India’s largest tribal community and are also refereed as Santoor.

Reference

Down To Earth| Evolution and Development of Santali

Coffee Varieties in India

A recent study in the journal ‘Nature Communications, reported that genetically cultivated Arabica coffees offer better brews.

• Coffee – A health drink particularly when mixed with hot milk.
• Growing conditions
  • Hot and humid climate, Temperature 15°C to 28°C, and Rainfall 150 to 250 cm.
  • Well-drained loamy soils, fertile volcanic red earth, and presence of humus and minerals (iron, calcium).
• Origin – It came from Ethiopia, where they called it qahve.
• Development in India – Arab traders introduced this with coffee plantations in South India and Sri Lanka.
• A Sufi, Baba Budan, grew coffee plants around Chikamagaluru, Karnataka.
• Coffee varieties in India

• Chicory coffee – It is made from minced and roasted chicory root which is an herb native to Europe and Asia.
• India is the 3^rd largest producer of chicory which is grown in far Eastern states (Assam, Meghalaya, Sikkim).  
• It has lower content of caffeine.

Caffeine is a molecule that stimulates the central nervous system.

Kumbakonam Degree Coffee is famous because of its pure Arabica variety without usage of Chicory. Kumbakonam is a city in Tamil Nadu.

References

The Hindu| Best Coffee in India

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

A recent study published in ‘The Lancet’ proposed to repurpose an existing drug to treat rheumatoid arthritis and as to prevent it.

• It is a chronic, autoimmune condition, causing inflammation around the body and commonly presents with pain in the joints.
• It often occurs in a symmetrical pattern, meaning that if one knee has the condition, the other knee is also often affected.
• Causes – It is unknown yet, but there is probability of genetic condition.
• Risk factors – Smoking, obesity and exposure to air pollution.
• Women and older people have a higher risk of developing RA.
• Symptoms – A patient experiences pain, swelling of joints and loss of function and mobility as a result of stiffness.
• Fatigue, occasional fevers, and a loss of appetite and may also affect heart, lungs, blood nerves, eyes and skin.
• Prevention and control – Reducing exposure to inhaled silica, dusts and occupational risks.
• Lifestyle changes like prevention of smoking, healthy nutrition, physical activity and maintaining normal BMI.
• Treatment - It is not curable.
• If diagnosed timely, symptoms and disease progression can be controlled with pharmacological treatment, and optimal functioning can be maintained through rehabilitation.
• In cases with severe joint damage, surgical procedures, including joint replacement, may help to restore movement or manage pain.
• Medicines – It is used to reduce inflammation, pain and swelling
  • Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
  • Glucocorticoids
  • Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs)
  • Biological agents.

According to World Health Organisation, about 18 million people worldwide were living with rheumatoid arthritis in 2019. About 70% of people living with rheumatoid arthritis are women, and 55% are older than 55 years.

References

1. The Hindu| Preventing the Onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis
2. WHO| Rheumatoid Arthritis

GSLV - The Naughty Boy

Recently, ISRO has launched a new-generation meteorological satellite, INSAT-3DS by GSLV-F14 rocket.

• GSLV – Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, formerly known as GSLV-MkII.
• Features – It is a 3 stage vehicle.
• It uses cryogenic engine at the 3^rd stage, indigenously developed by reverse-engineering a Russian design.
• Payload – It can carry more than 2,200 kg to geostationary orbits, and over 6,000 kg to the low earth orbits.

3 main rockets used by ISRO for carrying its satellites are GSLV, PSLV and LVM3 (earlier called GSLV-MkIII).

• The Naughty Boy – It is named so, during its initial days for its inconsistent performance.
• It has had a very high failure rate for any rocket used by ISRO.
  • Before this launch, it had failed 4 times among the 15 launches.
  • It’s most recent failure was in August 2021, while carrying an earth observation satellite EOS-03 into space.

PSLV, which has used the maximum number of times by ISRO has failed only twice in its 60 launches while the LVM3 rocket has flown 7 times and never failed.

• Reason for failure – It is mainly due to the cryogenic engine.
• Using both Hydrogen and Oxygen as a fuel is possible only in liquid state to keep them stable.
• Liquefaction is possible only at very low temperatures.
  • Oxygen liquifies at -183 degree Celsius and Hydrogen at -253 degree Celsius

References

1. The Indian Express| Successful launch of ‘GSLV -The Naughty Boy’
2. ISRO| Cryogenic Engine

Starlink

The Starlink, low-Earth orbit (LEO) broadband service has played a crucial role in assisting Ukraine’s armed forces when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

• It is a constellation of many satellites that orbit the Earth, at about 550km, and cover the entire globe.
• It is a satellite internet network, the world’s 1^st and largest satellite constellation which was launched in 2019.

Satellite broadband technology is also known as satellite telephony, a satellite communication technology using satellite constellations in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO). StarLink, Kuiper and OneWeb are some of the forerunners in this technology.

• Operated by – SpaceX, an American aerospace company.
• Coverage – Over 70 countries
• Objective – To provide high-speed internet coverage to every part of the world and to provide global mobile phone service after 2023.
• It plans to deploy a total of 12,000 satellites in the short-term, and another 30,000 in the long-term.

As on February 16, 2024, SpaceX has 5,459 Starlink satellites in orbit, out of 5,850 launched.

• Features – Less mass, more compact, autonomous collision avoidance with single solar array that simplifies the system.
• Working – It involves beaming internet data via radio signals through the vacuum of space.
• Ground stations then broadcast those signals to orbiting satellites, which relay the data back to Earth-side users.

• Advantages – Higher coverage, speed with low latency.
• Disadvantages - Light pollution of night sky, interference with other radio signals and increases the probability of space collisions.
• Role in Russia-Ukraine War – It delivered high-speed Internet supporting streaming and video calls.
• It provide strategic advantage to the military by connecting defence forces to uninterrupted, secure communication channels and helping them deploy state-of-the-art weapon systems.

Reference

The Hindu| Starlink usage in Russia-Ukraine War